Secondary battery.



- UNUEDSTATESi PATENT Frio.-

AMES I. CLARE, OF QUINCY, MASSAGESETTSa e econ olievsArrav.

srncrrrca'ron'erng part of Letters regent No. 650,808, cated may se,190e. Application filed November 22, 1899. Serial No. ?3'7,936. (Nomodel.)

To @AZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES P. CLARE, a citi-v zen of the United States,and a resident of Quincy, Massachusetts, have invented certainImprovement-s `in Secondary or Storage Batteries, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention consists in the herein-described improvement in secondaryor storage batteries and will be described in connection with thedrawings, wherein# Figure l is a view in end elevation of a completeelectrode or unit. Fig. 2 is'aview in vertical section thereof. Fig..3is a view in side elevation of the electrode or unit. Fig. 4 is a viewin side elevation of one of the plates of the electrode or unit, showingits inner surface. Fig. 5 is a view, also in elevation and in reducedsize, of a side of an electrode composed of a number ot' independentplates assembled to form a portion of a larger electrode than isrepresented in the other ligures.

My invention consists in -a construction of the plates of the electrode,whether used in pairs or multiple, whereby a chamber is formed betweenthe plates which is completely closed upon three sides or edges and openupon one only and by means integral or homogeneous with the substance orbody of the plates.

Referring to the drawings, A represents one of the plates of a singleelectrode or unit, and A the other plate of the single electrode orunit. The plates are formed to provide the side walls a a', the endwalls 0,2 a3, and the closed bottom a4 of a chamber or cavity B and toalso provide an opening b thereto. The inner surface d5 between the endwalls may be cellular in shape or character, and I have shown such cellsas obtained by vertical and horizontal narrow walls a, which intersect.The exterior of each plate between the ends may have a series of ribsal, parallel with the ends and forming channels cts. The surfaces ofthese ribs are flush with the surfaces of the ends. v v

The plates are made of porous non-conducting earthenware, and thereforeprovide a box or vessel having its sides, bottom, and ends ofhomogeneous porous non-conducting ma' terial. The sections of the plateswhich t'ormA l the en ds and bottom of the chamber are united by meansof a suitable cement, so that the chamber of the box, vessel, or unit ispractically fIuid-tight and serves to hold within its confines anymaterial,ingredient,or Huid with which its cavity may be lled and aslong as there may be any ingredient, material, or iiuid in the cavity,the ends and bottom of the vessel or unit being of the material of thesides andbeing indestructible by the usual'influences of said batteries.The wall which forms the ends and bottom of the vessel or unit may be ofany desired extent, and I 11a-ve' represented in the drawings as onemethod of obtaining the same in a single electrode or unit aconstruction in which each side contributes its portion of wall alongeach end and the bottom, the ends and the bottom being extended withrespect to the inner surfaces of the plates to provide wall-formingparts. These Wall-forming extensions are made relatively wide, so as toform substantial cementing and abutting surfaces, and also serve tostrengthen the structure of the plate. When the vessel or electrode iscomposed of a number of plates, only those which form the outer andlower side are provided with the wall-forming extensions. In Fig. 5, forinstance, where nine plates are represented as assembled,.the plates 1,2, 3, 4, 5, .6, and 7 are provided with sections or parts of a wall ontheir outer edges, the' plates 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 having wall-sections ononeedge only and the plates 3 and 5, being corner plates, havingwall-forming extensions on two edges.

Vhere the vessel is composed of a numbe of plates associated asrepresented in Fig. 5, the two sides are cemented together and theplates cemented to each other, so that a closed vesselin every respectlike that made from a pair of plates, excepting that it is larger,is-Obtained. The advantage of this construction, in which the walls ofthe chamber are built up of a number of sections A, cemented together'attheir meeting or abutting edges, over the built-up walls now in use isthat said sections when joined by acidproof cement form a rigidpractically-homogeneous wall with absolutely-tight joints, and the platethus formed may be cemented as a single unit or sheet at its bottom andIOO sides to its opposing unit or sheet to form the chamber. I am ableby this construction to dispense with the binding-plates, straps, andother tying devices which are found in the built-up loose-jointedmultiple-section plates now in use to secure the sections in relativeposition and prevent their displacement, it being understood, of course,that in forming walls or plates for electrode-receptacles of anyconsiderable size it is necessary to build them up of comparativelysmallmolded sections, for the reason that large plates cannot be successfullymolded and dried, because of the liability of distortion or curlingduring drying. In cementing,r the plates any cement capable of resistingthe attacks of the acid of the battery may be used.

In the chamber of the closed vessel there is first placed lead oxid ormaterial to become active, which is lettered C, and into this materialisthcn inserted a lead-conducting sheet D, while the active material ormaterial to become active is in a soft, plastic, and formativecondition. By this means all the active material placed in the chamberof the unit or vessel is hcld in the said chamber,

proof cement so as to make solid practicallyhomogeneous plates, theouter sections of said plates at one or more sides thereof havingintegral, lateral extensions at their outer edges, said extensionsabutting when the said built-up plates are opposed to each other andbeing united by an acid-proof cement.

In testimony whereof I have ailixed mysignature in presence of twowitnesses.

JAMES P. CLARE. Witnesses:

ELLIE J. MCNULTY, JAMES L. EDWARDS.

